I am not…

1. A “real” runner. There is no such thing as a “real” runner, you are simply called a “runner” if you have finished any road race where you registered, period!

2. Your “personal coach”. I am your “guide” and try to “walk the talk” about running, so to speak.

3. Your “PR or advertiser”. I don’t advertise any road race except for the BDM 102/151 and PAU Races. Let the takbo.ph do it’s job. I don’t also advertise any particular brand of running shoes and apparel. I only write about what I am using and wearing during my training and races.

4. A perfect Race Organizer/Race Director. I still have to learn a lot by participating in international running events.

5. A “running expert” who completed formal studies in sports science, medicine, and physiology. But having completed such studies does not mean that you are an “expert’ in running even if you have not experienced finishing a marathon race. After almost 40 years of running, I am still learning from my experiences in my training and races. Lots of marathon and ultra distance finishes still don’t make me as a “running expert”.

6. Against high cost of registration fees. Nobody is forcing you to join the races anyway. This is a democratic country. Pay your registration fees, run & enjoy the race, get your award/certificate/medal, and don’t “whine” about fees. Finishing a race is not for “bragging rights” or FB status purposes. Did anybody of you complain when you paid your registrations fees for your NYC Marathon or SC Hongkong/Singapore Marathon?

7. Against Race Organizers. There is a big difference between a “reponsible” Race Organizer from a “profit-oriented” one. But there is a big possibility that both could combine. “Responsible” Race Organizers are the ones who are seasoned runners who can relate to the hardships of a runner to finish the race. These ROs are the ones who can anticipate the needs of the runners and make sure that the last runner reaches the finish line. The “profit-oriented” ones, aside for obvious reasons, could be identified by their body-built—-they are fat, have protruding bellys and sometimes, old (like me!) and young alike, and you have not seen them run in a road race! And if you see them run in road races, they are not for their personal PRs but they simply want to finish the race within the cut-off time. They could have been the most experienced ROs/RDs that the country could offer but they usually commit mistakes/lapses in every race that they conduct.

8. Against Corporate Sponsors. You can donate, in kind or in cash, or do some services if you want to sponsor or support my races. But please, don’t tell me what to do about my race.

9. For Awards and Recognition. You can have the distinction of being the most visited blog or recipient of a Blog Award or the most popular runner in the country and I think you deserve such recognition. I just want to simply go on with my advocacy to inform everybody that running is healthy and it is a way of life.

10. A politician or make my runs for political, social, and economic causes. You have a lot of government, semi-government and private entities whose job is to help solve poverty, give opportunities to other people and cure diseases. If you want to run because you want to construct a school or library, I don’t believe you! This is the job of the Departments of Education and Local Governments and they have the budget to implement it. This is the same to other causes and fund-raising benefits where your “cause” is the specific function of a particular Department of the government.

11. Selective in my running blogs or topics. If there is something wrong about the race like deaths, casualties, cheating, and mistakes/lapses of Race Organizers/Race Directors, I will not hesitate to publish them in this blog as long as I am a participant in the said race in question. This is the best way to provide feedback and evaluate each race with the end-view of improving future races.

12. Lastly, I am not impressed on the quantity/number of runners joining our road races when the Race Organizer could not provide a good quality support services. I could not understand why there seems to be a “contest” on the number of participants in every road race. One says, they have 28,000 runners, another says that they are planning to have 110,000 runners. What is their objective? Is it to impress other countries, for the Guinnes World of Records, for profit, or for publication purposes? We should remember that our streets/roads are too narrow and runners compete with other vehicles for space. If what I’ve heard is correct, our main roads can only accommodate at least 8, 000 runners and if the ROs/RDs know this information, they should not push their luck in coming up with a bigger number of runners than the required volume/capacity of our roads.